A Warrior is Strong
by Chessrook44
Summary: A figure has appeared in Lyoko, clothed in black. Who is this person? What is his purpose? And most importantly: is he with Xana... or against?
1. A Mysterious Figure

Chesrook: Hello, people of a fanfic section I never wrote in before!

Lister: [taps lead pipe in hand threateningly]

Chesrook: Er, I'm here because I happened to think of a fanfic for here that I...

Sakura: [taps magical staff in hand threateningly]

Chesrook: WHAT DO YOU WANT?!

Lister: Ches, when was the last time you posted a story?

Chesrook: Erm, January?

Sakura: Mm-hm. And wasn't it part of a longer story?

Chesrook: Ye-es...

Lister: Right. Well, in that case...

Lister/Sakura: WHY ARE YOU WRITING THIS?!?!?!?!

Chesrook: Look, we're taking up too much space. Well discuss this later, ok?

Lister: Fine. But if you run...

Chesrook: I won't. Now then... [clears throat] I decided to start a new story even though I have one already in progress. I just want something to pass the time by, and I wanted to get this in while people were still reading this section. The CCS section has plummeted headfirst into nothing but romances. But, I'm rambling. I'll just get to the story, ok?

The desert was empty, devoid of all but a few sparse trees and rocks, near what was an infinite abyss. Data suddenly began pouring in, and a shape appeared some distance above the ground. A moment later, color and solid form poured into it, revealing a dark figure. When he was complete, he landed softly on his feet on the ground below him. He stood up slowly and opened his eyes. He knew his purpose, but first he had to seek out his targets. He must patiently wait for them. It was only a matter of time...

"Ulrich, you've got 20 life points left."

"Don't worry Jeremy, I'm fine."

"Jeremy, Aelita's almost at the tower."

"Roger that Odd."

A battle had been raging on in Lyoko for the past 2 minutes. Jeremy was getting tense. If they didn't hurry, students trapped within the school would die. "Odd, you've got three wasps coming in."

"Got it."

"Jeremy, I got the last of these guys."

"Ulrich, hang there. You're in too much danger."

"But Odd-"

"I said-" Jeremy froze. He had sworn that... There it was again! Something had appeared for a brief moment on the console!

"Ulrich, there's something by a rock to your left... I think..."

"What do you mean, 'you think'?"

"Ulrich can you see anything?"

Ulrich turned towards the rock quickly but saw nothing. "Jeremy, I don't-" he stopped as he heard a pebble rolling down a rock. He then saw the pebble appear at the bottom of it. He narrowed his eyes and carefully walked forward.

"Ulrich, Aelita's at the tower."

Ulrich ignored this and kept walking. Just as he reached the side of the rock, he caught a glimpse of a black blur flying away from the rock and dashing away. A split second later, something hit his side and he yelled as he vanished from the world. At the same time, a bright white glow grew from a small abandoned factory in the middle of France, radiating outward.

"You saw a what?"

"Some sort of black blur," Ulrich replied. Ulrich, Yumi, Odd, and Jeremy were gathered in Jeremy's room, Aelita on the computer nearby. "And then I was hit."

"Maybe it was one of Xana's monsters? A new one?" offered Yumi.

Jeremy shook his head. "No, it couldn't be. I couldn't even see it except for a split second."

"Maybe a new virus got into Lyoko. Forget to check your e-mails, Jeremy?" Odd said.

Jeremy shook his head again. "No, I don't think so."

"Then what-"

Yumi was interrupted by a gasp from Aelita. The group turned towards the screen to find a gleaming dagger at her throat, a black hand gripping the hilt. "Come to the forest," came a mysterious, deep voice. And a moment later, Aelita disappeared from view. "Aelita?" Jeremy yelled at the screen. "Aelita!"

"Jeremy, I'm still not too sure about this," Yumi said. "It could be a trap."

"Regardless, we have to save Aelita," Ulrich said.

"I agree. Besides, we wouldn't die there. We'd just come back here." Odd said.

"And even if it was Xana, why does he want all of us? Why wouldn't he just destroy Aelita?" Jeremy said.

"I still don't like this," Yumi said. "It smells worse than Odd's gym bag."

"Hey, I resent that!"

"Guys, just go down and I'll virtualize you."

It wasn't long before the three found themselves in a clearing in the forest. "Well Jeremy, where to?" Odd asked.

"Aelita's signal is in a clearing directly ahead of you," came Jeremy's voice. "There are four paths heading into it."

"There's a reason you're telling us this, isn't there?" Odd asked.

"I think he wants us to split up and surround the clearing. The paths to the side, they lead to the clearing, right Jeremy?"

"That's right Ulrich."

"Alright. Yumi, you go to the left. Odd, you take the right. I'll go down the middle." The other two nodded and the three went off in their respective directions.

It wasn't long before Ulrich came to the clearing. Aelita was in the middle, the gleaming dagger held to her throat by a man clad entirely in black. Only the area around his eyes was left uncovered, revealing two steel-blue eyes. "I'm glad to see you came," he said in the deep voice they had heard earlier. "All three of you."

Ulrich's eyes narrowed. "I'm the only one here."

"Oh, please," said the figure. "Your friends are so loud I'm surprised Xana hasn't woken up just from them!"

Suddenly, he whirled around, throwing Aelita to the ground, sheathed his dagger, spun around sending flying discs at Yumi and Odd, whipped out a gleaming silver blade, ran up, and slashed Ulrich from shoulder to pelvis. All in 3 seconds.

Jeremy was simply staring at his console.

Yumi was groaning on the ground.

Odd picked his head up to look at the figure.

Aelita turned to stare at Ulrich.

Ulrich simply glanced up at the figure before him.

"Hmph," he said. "Pathetic." And with that he turned around and sheathed his sword. "Why I'm surprised you've even lasted this long against Xana's monsters."

Odd was the only one who didn't seem completely stunned by this. Carefully, he aimed an arrow at the figure and fired.

The figure stood stock still as the arrow flew 2 feet from him and plunged into a nearby tree.

"I repeat myself," said the figure. "Pathetic."

Yumi stood up. "Who are you?" she asked defiantly.

"Call me N," said the figure. "I am your trainer."

Chesrook: Sorry it's short, but I'm tired. Anyway, what do you think? Good? Bad? Sucks? Go ahead and review! The story will just continue until it ends.

Lister: When will you get to your other stories, buddy?

Chesrook: Soon, Lister, soon. Oh, BTW, these are what I suppose you could call my muses. An original character named Lister and Sakura from the show all my other fanfics are based on. So, let me know what you think. I'll write more soon.

Sakura: You'd better.


	2. Confrontation with N

Chesrook: And I'm back.

Lister: That was fast.

Chesrook: Yes, well, I wanted to get it to the people and-

Sakura: Oh, please! You're bored, you're still waiting for your video card, and this is all you can think of doing!

Chesrook: Alright, fine! I AM bored out of my mind! At least the VC's coming soon.

Sakura: And that's a good thing how?

Chesrook: Look, you guys may hate this, but can I just please get on with this? Lister, say the disclaimer.

Lister: Fine. Chessrook44 owns none of the characters in the story except for me and N.

Chesrook: Right. On we go then.

* * *

"Call me N," said the figure. "I am your trainer."

Ulrich narrowed his eyes. "What do you want with us?"

"Why did you take Aelita?" Yumi yelled.

"Trainer? What in the world are you talking about?" Odd asked.

The figure-N-turned towards Odd. "My purpose," he said. "I am here to train you. As I mentioned before, you three are pathetic. When you face Xana, you will all die one..." he pointed at Odd. "...by one..." Ulrich "...by one..." Yumi "...by one." Aelita.

"Xana will NEVER defeat us!" Ulrich yelled, and charged towards N. N drew his blade and held it above his head, prepared. Just as Ulrich reached within cutting range of N, N twisted to the side. The next thing Ulrich knew, he was lying on his back, his blade 5 feet from him, N's blade at his throat. A moment later, Ulrich heard some sort of whirling. Next, N jumped into the air out of Ulrich's view, and a split second later, he saw Yumi's fan fly above him right where N had been standing. He then heard shots and turned his head to see N leaping from tree to tree, Odd's arrows flying everywhere. Ulrich sprang up and ran to his sword. However, a number of four-pointed steel stars landed at his feet. A second later, N flew down, grabbed Ulrich's sword, and leapt forward again. Ulrich felt another of Odd's arrows fly by his ear. He twisted around to find Yumi gearing up for another attack while Odd finished off his last arrows and N jumped to the ground in the middle of the clearing, landing with his feet splayed apart, the two blades in his hands held outwards. Yumi wasted no time in throwing her fan, but at the last second, N whirled around and brought the two blades together, piercing Yumi's fan and saving himself.

For 5 seconds the scene remained unchanged: Ulrich staring at N in shock, Yumi's hand frozen in place from throwing her fan, Odd holding his arms out as if about to fire another arrow, and Aelita simply staring at it all from behind a nearby tree.

Jeremy was the one who broke the silence. "Incredible," he said. "I've never seen anything so... so fast and accurate!"

"You attack in haste and anger," said N. He then removed the fan from the blades. "This will be your downfall." He tossed the fan and the blade to their respective owners and sheathed his own katana. "Unless you practice and learn how to fight such impulses. And I can teach you that. I can teach you patience, accuracy, control, agility, strength, and speed. Without these abilities, Xana will destroy you."

"Who are you?" Yumi said angrily.

"I told you. I am N." he replied.

"No. WHO are you?" Yumi said forcefully.

N narrowed his eyes, understanding. "I am N," he said. "And I am as alive as Aelita."

"Then who created you?" asked Odd.

"I... I do not know. I only know my purpose here, and that is to train you." He stood there and closed his eyes. "You shall return here to this very spot every day at this exact same time. Please allow me a week to fully prepare your... tests." Ulrich thought he noticed what might be a smile under N's face covering. "Class dismissed," he said with a chuckle, and leapt upwards and disappeared into the forest.

* * *

/That's all/ N thought as he leapt through the trees. /they have the message. Now I must begin the construction./

* * *

The gang was gathered in the computer room, Aelita on the screen.

"Well, guys, what do you think?" Jeremy asked.

Yumi frowned. "I don't trust him," she said. "He kidnapped Aelita and almost killed us."

"Except he didn't," Odd said.

"But he attacked us," Yumi retorted.

"Only after you attacked him," Aelita said. "Listen. While he held me he told me that he was going to train you to defeat Xana. He said it was his purpose on Lyoko and he will let nothing stop him. He then said that the dagger he held contained a powerful poison that, once injected into one's body, would destroy them here on Lyoko, and they shall cease to exist. I said then that I was a program and immune to poisons. He then said that most poisons are chemical, but this one consisted of a virus. It would kill anyone. I asked him why he didn't just use it on Xana, and he said that it wasn't his purpose. We didn't say anything else besides that."

"Why are you telling us this?" Jeremy asked.

"As long as I'm here, he can kill me," Aelita said. "You have no choice but to co-operate. I'm sorry."

"So it's blackmail," Yumi said angrily.

"It seems so," Jeremy said. "But we need to make a decision. Should we trust him or not? Let's sleep on it and decide later. We do have a week, anyway."

"Right," Ulrich said. "Come on, Jeremy, let's head back to school."

* * *

Chesrook: OK, I'm just going to end it there. Sorry the chappie's so short, but, anyway...

Lister: Is there something you haven't been telling us, Ches?

Chesrook: sigh Alright, listen. Part of the reason I haven't written more for my other story is the fact that all my data is gone.

Sakura: What do you mean?

Chesrook: Some virus or something completely screwed up the family comp, which had all the story data, not to mention all my saved games and such. When my uncle managed to look through it, it turned out that my entire account had been erased. The stories may be on fanfiction, but the originals are gone. I want to keep things in order, and this completely screwed it up.

Lister: Ouch.

Chesrook: Yeah. Well, there's my reason, happy? Well, please review. Seeya.


	3. Thoughts on N

Chessrook: Don't hurt it... for the love of Jurita, don't hurt it!.

Lister: You said you were going to write it.

Chess: Please! Let it go!

Sakura: Not unless you write more!

Chess: But I... But... fine. I'll write. Sorry about the delay, by the way.

Lister: Suuuure you are...

Chess: Shut up.

* * *

_Aelita... God, I hope you'll be all right with that N in there..._ Jeremy's thoughts ran through his head. _N said he can kill Aelita with that dagger. Or anyone. And considering what we saw him do... he could probably hit her even from 100 feet away! We don't have any chance! We can't BEAT him!_

* * *

_You won't get away with this, N,_ Thought Yumi. _Not while I'm here. I won't let you take Aelita hostage no matter what. Even if you plunge that poison into my heart, you will not do this to her... or us._

* * *

"Well, Odd, what do you think?" Ulrich asked while at his desk.

Odd flipped onto his back. "Think? About what? You mean that science project? I-"

"Not the science project! I mean N!"

"Oh, him. I don't know. I mean, sure, he is skilled... but we've done fine before."

"Not always. Sometimes it was pure luck. Remember when Xana trapped you, Yumi and I inside that virtual bubble? We all almost died! It was a close thing."

"True. You've got a point. Still... I would like to know why he doesn't kill Xana himself... and who made him."

"You're right. That is another problem. One thing is for sure though... someone else knows about Lyoko. The question is: who? Or what?"

"We have plenty of time to think this through, buddy. Right now, let's get some sleep. It's almost 11."

* * *

"Aelita? Do you copy?"

Aelita's head appeared on Jeremy's computer. "Yes Jeremy I'm here."

"Good. I just wanted to make sure you were ok."

"Don't worry about me. Although N has been doing something strange..."

"Do you mean you went NEAR that man?!"

"Yes, I-"

"Aelita, he could have killed you!"

"Jeremy, I don't think he would."

"Well I do! I don't want you going near him again!"

"Jeremy, he's building something!"

"What?"

"He's building something, although I don't know what it- or they- are."

Jeremy placed his hand in his head. "Aelita, please don't go near that man again. He's dangerous!"

"Jeremy..."

"No! You could get killed! I don't trust him any further than I might be able to throw him."

Aelita simply sighed as her head disappeared from the screen. "Aelita?" Jeremy yelled. "Aelita!"

* * *

Aelita snuck up to the clearing again, peeking from around a tree. N had been working hard, cutting down a number of the trees in the forest and putting them together into intricate devices. She still didn't know what they were for.

N wasn't in the clearing and Aelita thought he might be out chopping down another tree. She took a step forward to try to get a closer look at the devices.

Almost instantly, she felt an arm wrap itself tightly around her neck. "I know you've been talking to him," N said in her ear.

"W-what?"

"The Transporter... Jeremy is his name?"

"I... I don't know- ah!" N tightened his grip.

"You know what I'm talking about. And you will tell him nothing of what you see here. Not him or any of the other three. Understand?" Aelita nodded quickly. "Good. Now I believe it's time you began." With that, N released her neck and grabbed her arm, leading her into the clearing.

* * *

Meanwhile, two figures were talking in a storage closet in the school.

"Geez, it reeks in here! Couldn't you have picked someplace with less... stench?"

"You wanted privacy, you got privacy!"

"I know, but a janitor's closet?"

"Look, we're not here to argue about where we are! We're here to discuss that little gang of Jeremy's!"

"I prefer to think of it as Ulrich's gang!"

"Whatever. I still think we should find out what they're up to."

"I agree. I hate not being told things! And he's been shrugging me off too much!"

"Not to mention all the school rules they've been breaking."

"You know, I have been noticing that they've been pretty quiet lately... even when they're sitting with each other at lunch."

"Yeah... and Ulrich's game has been slipping too."

"They're probably going to leave the school again soon. We need to keep an eye on them at all times!"

"Right."

"I have my cell, so call me if you see them leaving."

"You do realize that that is also against school policy?"

"I can get around it. Don't you know how many things I've managed to evade?"

"Fine. I'll keep in touch. Let's begin Operation... um, Operation... ah..."

"Operation JUYOX?"

"Juyox? What the heck is Juyox?"

"Jeremy, Odd, Yumi, Ulrich, Xana. I've heard them mention that name before. I think this Xana might be involved."

"Ooo, nice one. OK, let's begin Operation Juyox!"

"Finally! I really want to get out of here! Hasn't Hugo ever heard of Lemon Scent?"

* * *

Chess: And we're done! So who are these two mysterious people? If you figure it out, you get a... um... I know! I'll give you a cookie!"

Sakura: coughunoriginalcough

Chess: Well, it IS short notice. Now Lister, please let it go! I did everything you said!

Lister: Well... ok, fine.

Chess: Oh, thank you! Thank you! Oh, sweet computer... don't worry, daddy's here...

Sakura: Um, Chess? We're still typing.

Chess: What? Oh Jurita! CUT!


End file.
